Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Grace Lin Gives Us an Interview! Woo-hooo!

Hey, reader guys everywhere, it's Carl with an interview with the one and only Grace Lin. She's the author of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (among other terrific books) and was here for our Word Play Saturday about 10 days ago. Not only is she a great author, but she is also one of the genuinely nicest people I've ever met. But why am I talking--let's hear what Grace has to say:

Why do you think it's cool for boys to read?

I think it's cool for boys to read because that means they are exercising their brain muscles. No one wants a weak brain!

You're right about that. Our reader guys have demonstrated their pumped-up brains! Well, tell me this--is it cool for boys to write/draw? Why?

The way things are remembered is through stories. Even in video games,commercials, movies--think about it--everything is told through stories. Those are the things that are remembered.

It's cool for boys to write and draw because that means they are making stories. And that means they will be remembered. It's cool to be remembered. Who wants to be forgotten?

One of the main characters in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a dragon. Tell us about the difference between Asian dragons and those we read about in the West.

Western dragons are usually evil--they capture princesses (I'm not sure why) and knights must go kill them.Asian dragons are not evil. Asians think the dragon is a noble creature--very powerful, to be sure--but usually compassionate andwise. There are many types of dragons in Asian culture. They were usually rulers of water and weather.

A lot of the pictures in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon are in the ancient Chinese style. Was that hard to do? And what do you use to achieve that style? Brushes or something else?

I was very influenced by traditional Chinese art. It was not easy to do, but I had a lot of fun doing it. I use a paint called gouache, which is a thin watercolor, and brushed to do my work. Some of my brushes are really thin-tipped, almost as thin as an eyelash!

You live near Boston—do you see many sports? (You lucky duck—you get to see the Celtics!)

Boston is a big sports town! It is usually the Red Sox that get the most attention, but since they are out of the playoffs, I am watching the Bruins hockey team. Unfortunately, they aren't doing so well either. There's always next year!

What do you like to do for fun?

For fun, I like to ride my bike and eat things that are bad for me, like ice cream and chocolate milkshakes. And, of course, I like to read and surf the internet.

Which do you like better--cheeseburgers or pizza? What do you like on them?

I like burgers the best--w/o the cheese. But with everything else--tomato, lettuce, mayo--all that is good. On pizza, I like it with salami and spinach. I know spinach sounds weird, but it tastes good! Really!

You seem very cool. Could we make you an Honorary Guy?

Sure. Should I change my name to Greg?

No, that’s not necessary. Thanks for the interview!

We really appreciated it. Go get Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. (see my review here) It'sreally good. And she're written a couple of other good novels, The Year of the Dog and The Year of the Rat. They're good too. In fact, I saw on another blog that a mom is reading The Year of the Dog to her sons and, when she tries to stop, they holler for more!

Sooooo, because of her terrific books and for being such a nice person, we are bestowing the greatest honor we have by making her an HONORARY GUY!

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